We are closely monitoring the parameters provided by the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services as well as state, county, and local governments. As of today, visiting a healthcare professional is considered an essential activity, so our clinic will remain open. We are doing our best to follow every guideline established for our office, and we will continue to reevaluate and adjust as needed as more information becomes available. Therefore, we are making the following changes.
As a reminder, my previous career was in pathology, particularly infectious diseases. Beginning in April, we will see patients in-person at our Dallas clinic on Mondays and Thursdays only. This change allows our ongoing cleaning processes (by our staff members), and professional cleaning services to have additional time to thoroughly disinfect our office. Our priority is to keep patients and staff as safe as possible while in our office. Either Tuesday or Wednesday of each week will be dedicated to online appointments only. We hope to resume our regular office hours in the coming weeks.
I was planning to offer online webinars later this summer on a variety of topics and ways to help/heal yourself at home. With the change in our culture, this has become extremely important. Fortunately, both Texas and Oklahoma (where I currently see patients) are encouraging telemedicine and conferencing as part of our new journey in healthcare. The planning and preparation for these educational webinars was in the works well before we were aware of the COVID-19 virus. Therefore, we are moving up the timeline and plan to begin offering them within the next two weeks. Be looking for an email within the week that will detail the syllabus, dates of live airing, cost, and how you can access the recordings if your schedule doesn’t allow attendance at each live event.
During April, we will ship supplements at no charge. Many patients opt to stop by the office to pick up supplements to avoid a shipping fee. While we enjoy seeing each of you, we must limit the number of people in our office at one time. Shipping your supplements also supports an anticipated increase in online appointments—knowing you will not be in our office to take your supplement(s) home following an appointment. And, most importantly, now is not the time to cut corners on your health. If we can help curb some of the out-of-pocket costs in this uncertain time, then we want to do our part.
And, finally, we plan to suspend our office move, planned second-quarter, until further notice. We will make that decision when more information is available.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during these changing times. Please continue to be diligent about your health; I look forward to seeing you in our office.
Dr. Trites